Jun 30, 2006 6:02 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Patricia Odell

HarperCollins is out with a new story line: curl up on a couch this summer with a lively book and a fruity glass of chardonnay.

A bottle hanger gives wine lovers a discount

Under its partnership with the Sutter Home Winery, a promotion launched this month that features neck hangers on 1 million bottles of wine, each of which offers $2 off a HarperCollins book. The deal includes in-store displays in grocery story liquor aisles for HarperCollins to show off the promotion and display the featured books: The Reading Group and The Friendship Test, both authored by Elizabeth Noble. The promotion is currently underway in Albertsons grocery stores and plans call to roll it out in other grocery chains.

HarperCollins hopes the program will help to develop new reading groups outside of the traditional book reader, said Hope Innelli, VP and associate publisher of Harper Paperbacks.

The neckers offer a choice of discounts, such as $2 off immediately with the purchase of a 750 ml or 1.51 bottle of Sutter Home wine and a book or magazine. (The neckers also tie in a partnership with Colavita for dollars off on its olive oils).

"You can read a book alone or you can have a glass wine alone, but the great thing is that doing them with other people is really a lifestyle choice," Innelli said. "So, we're showing that both can be social events."

The partnership was born earlier this year with the launch of the Sutter Home Wine & Reading Society, which promotes reading groups and pairs different Harper Collins' books with recipes and wines from Sutter Home's Culinary Center in Napa Valley, CA. The first book pick—The Reading Group—was posted in March on Sutterhome.com. A new book and wine are featured each month.

A sweepstakes supporting the partnership is promoted on the backs of books, at SutterHome.com and on header cards on in-store displays. The prize? One winner gets to take their reading group to the Sutter Home Victorian inn in Napa Valley, CA, along with a dinner hosted by a Sutter Home chef, 10 copies of The Reading Group and 10 copies of The Friendship Test. The sweeps ends June 30.

"The successful partnership is when both parties really bring the same level of creative energy to the table," said Innelli said. "This is a natural fit and it serves both of our products really well."

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